Complex suicide : analysis of Milan Legal Medicine Institute autoptic activity from 1995 to 2005

The Authors, held account of the lower incidence of the cases of complex suicide report in the national and international medical legal literature, have thought interesting to carry out a retrospective study of the cases observed in Milan Legal Medicine Institute in the period January 1995 to December 2005. From the database of the Milan Legal Medicine Institute, comprising a total of 12.315 autopsies, have been select 1.962 cases of suicide. Between these 25 cases relevant to this present study were found. The following data were examined for each case: On such group it has been lead a following analysis of parameters: sex and age of deceased, scene of discovery, site of event, annual and salary division, weapon used, previous tried or manifest intentions of suicide. This modality of suicide occurs more commonly in adult male subjects with previous tried of suicide; the favourite place is the home and the season is the winter one. The Authors, on the base of the present retrospective study, have evidenced as the complex suicide represents a rare event: 1.3% of the total of autopsies occurred in the Milan morgue from 1995 to 2005. In these cases the careful examination of the crime of scene and the copse of deceased are turn out of extreme usefulness in the reconstruction of the event and fore over in the differential diagnosis between suicide and homicide.